About health insurance/insurers
CMS proposes 2.6% bump to inpatient pay in fiscal 2025 “The Biden administration is proposing a 2.6% increase for inpatient hospitals’ payments for the coming fiscal year, a $3.3 billion increase over the current year’s payout, as well as other policy adjustments intended to shore up surgical care coordination, drug supply, emergency preparedness monitoring, maternal health and care for the underserved.”
About hospitals and healthcare systems
472 hospitals honored for patient safety, price transparency FYI
About pharma
Drugmakers race to find alternative suppliers as US cracks down on Chinese biotech “Western pharmaceutical companies are in talks with alternative suppliers in response to draft US legislation seeking to restrict an important Chinese drug developer and manufacturer over national security concerns. The Biosecure Act would prohibit US companies receiving federal grant money from working with four Chinese biotech companies, including WuXi AppTec and its sister company WuXi Biologics, which produce active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) for hundreds of US and European drugmakers. Companies, including US-based Eli Lilly, Vertex Pharmaceuticals and BeiGene in Switzerland, have been talking with rival contract manufacturers to diversify production away from WuXi companies, according to several people familiar with discussions.”
Medicare expects to spend $3.5 billion on new Alzheimer’s drug in 2025 “Medicare’s actuaries expect the drug Leqembi, made by the Japanese drugmaker Eisai and sold in partnership with Biogen, to cost the traditional Medicare program around $550 million in 2024, and the entire Medicare program $3.5 billion in 2025, a spokesperson for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services confirmed to STAT. That projection forecasts a large increase in uptake over the next year and a half.
The estimate was buried in a new CMS document that addressed questions about next year’s payments for Medicare Advantage plans…”
Drug Shortages Statistics “Summary
Ongoing and active shortages are the highest number (323) since we began tracking data in 2001.
Basic and life-saving products are in short supply including oxytocin, Rho(D) immune globulin, standard of care chemotherapy, pain and sedation medications, and ADHD medications.
New DEA quota changes, along with allocation practices established after opioid legal settlements, are exacerbating shortages of controlled substances (12% of all active shortages).
Workload required to manage shortages, including work to change pharmacy automation and electronic health records, adds to the challenges of pharmacy staff shortages.”
About the public’s health
Lunchables under fire after reports of concerning lead, sodium levels “Consumer Reports is calling for the removal of Lunchables from school trays across the country after discovering concerning levels of lead and sodium and a potentially harmful chemical in their packaging in products sold in stores.
A petition lobbying the U.S. Department of Agriculture to get rid of the Kraft Heinz products from the National School Lunch Program has more than 14,000 signatures…
Consumer Reports’ findings follow a Washington Post investigation last year that showed how powerful food companies get ultra-processed foods such as Lunchables to qualify for the National School Lunch Program through years of extensive lobbying to lower government nutrition standards.”
About healthcare personnel
Top Factors in Nurses Ending Health Care Employment Between 2018 and 2021 “In this cross-sectional study of 7887 nurses who were employed in a non–health care job, not currently employed, or retired, the top contributing factors for leaving health care employment were planned retirement (39% of nurses), burnout (26%), insufficient staffing (21%), and family obligations (18%). Age distributions of nurses not employed in health care were similar to nurses currently employed in health care.”
Top 5 Reasons for Medical Malpractice Lawsuits “There are numerous reasons a patient or caregiver might name physicians in a medical malpractice lawsuit, but these were the top five cited and the percentage of claims they comprised in the 2023 survey vs. the 2021 report:
Failure to diagnose or delayed diagnosis: 35%, up from 31%
Complications from treatment or surgery: 27%, down from 29%
Failure to treat or delayed treatment: 22%, up considerably from 16%
Poor outcomes or disease progression: 20%, down from 26%
Wrongful death: 15%, up from 13%”
About healthcare finance
Data for Alpine’s kidney disease candidate drive Vertex’s $4.9B takeover “Alpine Immune Sciences’ pivot away from cancer in 2022 has proven to be a profitable choice. After doubling down on its autoimmune and inflammatory disease pipeline, the biotech on Wednesday shared new data for its kidney disease programme — and announced a $4.9 billion buyout by Vertex Pharmaceuticals.”